Kenya's national team, the Harambee Stars, have been urged to improve on their defensive mistakes to stand any chance of going far in the TotalEnergies African Nations Championship (CHAN) currently going on in East Africa.
Harambee Stars, under coach Benni McCarthy, are currently topping Group A following their opening 1-0 win against two-time CHAN champions DR Congo before securing a vital 1-1 draw against Angola at Kasarani Stadium on Thursday.
Against DR Congo, Kenya found themselves 1-0 down with only five minutes played, but the goal was ruled out for offside after a VAR review.
Against Angola, they were punished in the seventh minute when Bernabe Muafulo Tomas won the ball from the right wing, and got into a good position, before setting up Jo Paciencia, who scored past Bryan Omondi.
Kenya further saw midfielder Marvin Nabwire sent off in the 21st minute after a mistake by Omondi. The former Bandari FC custodian committed a blunder by giving the ball away while trying to clear a back pass, and in an effort to prevent a goal, Nabwire grabbed Paciencia's shirt, and he was sent off for a second bookable offence.
Onsika: First goal was 'avoidable and defendable'
According to former Harambee Stars striker Elijah Onsika, Kenya have been getting away with blunder after blunder, especially at the back.
He further pointed out that if they commit such mistakes against a team like Morocco, who always make every chance count, they will be punished without a blink of an eye.
“The goal (against Angola) was completely avoidable and defendable, if we could’ve used our heads in a calm way,” Onsika told Flashscore.
“The players should look out for each other’s position on the pitch. If one defender has gone to attack, the number five and four should spread out in a favourable manner to cover the area.
“And the rest of the players, after losing the ball, should fall back into shape in 10 seconds to cover up, this is what is costing the team to concede early goals.
Kenya's Suleiman Okwaro celebrates at the end of gameFKF Media
"We are not covering for each other. If a defender goes up to attack, we leave a huge hole behind because we are not protecting each other, and as such, we remain vulnerable to conceding.
“We should be happy for now that we have four points from the first two games, and this is because we have played against teams that were not fighting to take their chances. A good team, who knows what it means to score goals, can punish Kenya at any given opportunity.”
Onsika continued: “We are giving away balls easily to the opponent. I watched one player (against Angola), who gave away the ball when we were attacking, and instead of chasing to retrieve it, he walked casually. At this point, we are definitely less defensive, and it means we can easily concede.”
He concluded: “If we don’t watch out, Morocco will thrash Kenya like Algeria did to Uganda. Kenya can’t even hold the ball for even a minute.”
Former Harambee Stars midfielder Charles Okwemba questioned Kenya’s defending, especially in Angola’s last-minute effort, which was disallowed for offside after VAR intervention.
“Our defenders should have dealt better with that situation. Why defend so well for larger parts of the game, and then slacken during the final minutes of added time?” he posed to Flashscore.
On facing Morocco, Okwemba advised: “We should play a very tight and closed game against them and avoid those defensive lapses; Arabs are very good at punishing such mistakes.”
The draw saw Kenya go top of Group A with four points from two matches, ahead of Morocco and DR Congo, who both have three, while the outcome left Angola with one point and needing a win in their final game against DR Congo to have any hopes of progressing.